BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Why are Trump opponents deleting their Uber accounts?

  • Published
    30 January 2017
Share page
About sharing
Tweet: Delete Uber? Yes, I'll do itImage source, Twitter/@KeeganNYC
Mike Wendling
BBC Trending

Protests over Donald Trump's executive order banning nationals of seven countries from the US have engulfed one of Silicon Valley's biggest companies - even though Uber's chief executive has come out against the ban.

As anti-Trump activists gathered at US airports to voice their opposition to travel restrictions, a union representing New York City taxi drivers decided to weigh in.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) called for an hour-long halt on pickups from John F Kennedy International Airport, the city's busiest.

Tweet from NY Taxi Workers Alliance: No pickups at JFK aprort from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. todayImage source, Twitter/@NYTWA

Demands for Uber rides from the airport increased and the company's surge pricing - where fares increase automatically according to demand - kicked in, until Uber announced on Twitter that it would suspend the surge, external.

The move was interpreted by some Trump opponents as an attempt to break the hour-long strike, and soon the hashtag #DeleteUber, external was trending on Twitter.

The campaign was kicked off by a Twitter story by prolific user @Bro_Pair, external, and by Monday more than 300,000 messages had been sent using the tag.

Bro Pair says: use your local taxi serviceImage source, Twitter/@bro_pair

Soon protesters were sharing screenshots of themselves removing the Uber app from their phone, and of negative feedback messages sent to the company.

Message from user criticising Uber, calling them "scabs who profited off a refugee crisis"Image source, Twitter/@scottbix

But Uber insisted that it was not trying to break the strike, external. Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick is a member of Trump's business advisory council and will be meeting with the president on Friday, details that were also seized upon by protesters.

But in a Facebook post, external on Sunday, Kalanick hit out at the executive order.

"Today we need your help supporting drivers who may be impacted by the President's unjust immigration ban," he wrote. Kalanick says his company is creating a $3 million legal fund to help drivers with immigration and translation services.

line

More from BBC Trending

Visit the Trending Facebook page, external

line

As BBC Trending has previously reported, conventional taxi drivers in many cities have been at odds with the high-tech competition.

The New York taxi drivers' union is currently involved in several disputes with Uber. The organisation is supporting a class-action lawsuit brought by Uber drivers against the company which alleges that Uber misclassifies drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. And The NYTWA is also lobbying against proposed state laws that would benefit Uber and other ride-sharing companies.

The union didn't explicitly endorse the #DeleteUber hashtag, but in an interview Bhairavi Desai, the NYTWA executive director, criticised the company, saying: "It's not shocking that Uber would put greed above social principles."

Uber wasn't the only company to be caught up in protest politics. After Starbucks promised to to hire 10,000 refugees in response to Trump's plan, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks, external hit Twitter's list of top trends, propelled by thousands of messages mostly from Trump supporters.

Next story: How to stop fake news

A screenshot of how Facebook's fact-checking system appears to users in the US and GermanyImage source, Facebook

Fake news became a huge issue during the US election campaign. But could there be a solution to stop it from spreading? READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

More on this story

  • Silicon Valley lashes out at Trump ban

    • Published
      30 January 2017
  • How some black cab drivers declared online war on Uber

    • Published
      15 September 2015
    Taxi sign with words "It's War" replacing the word taxi

Top stories

  • Israel rejects international criticism of Gaza City takeover plan

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • Israel's Gaza City plan means more misery for Palestinians and big risk for Netanyahu

    • Published
      7 hours ago
  • Police 'sat on information' before man, 80, killed

    • Published
      3 hours ago

More to explore

  • What we know about Israel's plan to take over Gaza City

    Palestinians hold out pots and bowls, jostling to reach the front of a line as they await meals distributed by aid groups in Gaza City
  • US shrugs off Gaza escalation - drifting further away from allies

    US President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives for a meeting at the West Wing of the White House
  • Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

    Mags Haney outside her home in the Raploch talking to two police officers. The photo from the mid 1990s shows Haney with short bleached blond hair and big earrings. She is wearing a pink cardigan and and orange t-shirt. A number of locals are standing around watching the scene
  • Why does sunshine make you feel happy?

    • Attribution
      Weather
    A young girl wearing sports clothes jumps off a board on a beach with her arms raised in the air, the sea is behind and there is a lot of hazy sunshine
  • India's immigration raids send ripples through slums and skyscrapers alike

    A woman stands in a slum in Delhi
  • Watch: See where China plans to put its controversial mega-embassy

    A composite image of Damian Grammaticas and the proposed China embassy
  • Weekly quiz: Which baby names took top spot?

    A stock photo shows a baby looking directly at the camera while pouting as they prop their head up on an outdoor chair with bokeh depth of field behind.
  • Who is most likely to challenge Liverpool this season?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Liverpool celebrate with Premier League trophy
  • Summer Essential: Your family’s guide to the summer, delivered to your inbox every Tuesday

    concentric circles ranging from orange to yellow to represent the sun, with a blue sky background
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Jim Lovell, who guided Apollo 13 safely back to Earth, dies aged 97

  2. 2

    Police 'sat on information' before man, 80, killed

  3. 3

    US diplomat says UK would have lost WW2 with Starmer as leader

  4. 4

    Sturgeon memoir describes arrest as 'worst day of my life'

  5. 5

    New signs found of giant gas planet in 'Earth's neighbourhood'

  6. 6

    Israel rejects international criticism of Gaza City takeover plan

  7. 7

    Boy, 15, found guilty of murdering fellow pupil

  8. 8

    Comedian accused of indecent assault in BBC studio

  9. 9

    Boy, 4, dies after being hit by bus as he walked out of hospital

  10. 10

    River Island allowed to shut shops to stave off collapse

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Your latest reality TV obsession has landed on iPlayer

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Jacob Elordi stars in explosive war drama

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Narrow Road to the Deep North
  • Inside the front-line fight against cybercriminals

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Panorama: Fighting Cyber Criminals
  • A rare glimpse into the world of rope access

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Our Lives: High Stakes
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.